Being Brave is Hard
by Laurenio567
Summary: "But I watched." Phoebe's voice was pleading and insistent. "You flirt and..and…" "And did everything possible to distract me from the fact that none of it would measure up until it was you." oneshot Max/Phoebe Thundercest T for slight language and sexual themes


She watched him hold Cherry close. Jealousy reached up her throat, trying to choke her as she let Link lead her around the dance floor in a haze. It had never mattered before who Max had tangled with. They never meant anything. Max wasn't capable of committing to a girl. Except her. He was always there for his sister. He was always there for Phoebe.

"What's wrong?" Link asked into her ear.

"Nothing." She tore her eyes away from her brother and met Link's eyes. "Why?"

"You look like someone just punched you in the stomach."

"It was Cherry," she blurted before she could stop herself.

"Huh?" Link stopped swaying and looked at her.

"I meant, I need to pee. I'll be right back." Phoebe extracted herself from his arms and blindly made her way out into the halls. It was her senior prom. It shouldn't end like this. Cherry can't be his endgame. He can't HAVE an endgame. She struggled to hold back tears.

"Phoebe!" Cherry came running up behind her. "Wait!"

"Hey." Phoebe turned to face her, plastering a smile on her face, feeling her slack cheeks tighten in effort. She suddenly felt very old. "How is everything?"

"I still can't believe he asked me. It's great." Cherry beamed. "What are you doing out here?"

"Needed some air," Phoebe replied breathlessly and put a hand to her stomach. "I'm not feeling well."

"Oh, well maybe you should go home," Cherry suggested. Phoebe heard the pressing tone in her voice and narrowed her eyes. Cherry squirmed under Phoebe's gaze. "It's just that, I know we said we'd go out after and stuff, but I think things are going really well and-"

"I get it." Phoebe bit her lip and shifted her weight to her left leg, trying to think of anything but the scene of Max sleeping with Cherry. "Yeah, I think I need to go."

"Ok, but, do you by any chance have a condom?" Cherry caught her shoulder and stopped her from fleeing.

"Here." Phoebe reached into her clutch and handed the condom over without another word. "It is senior prom after all."

"You don't need it for Link?" Cherry wondered aloud.

"I'm not into clichés." Phoebe felt the tears coming for sure this time so she turned away. "I'll see you on Monday, Cherry."

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"Hey." Max set his empty cup down on one of the long banquet tables and straightened up as Cherry walked back over to him. "What took you so long?"

"I ran into Phoebe in the hall." Cherry fingered her clutch. "She wasn't feeling well."

"What? Why?" Max's eyes scanned the room for Phoebe, then the doors to the halls. She'd been talking about prom since freshman year. Why wasn't she in here?

"Her stomach was bothering her. But she said it was ok and she was just going home. Which works out well because she gave me her last condom." Cherry opened the clutch for him to see. "Skip dessert?"

"Wait, Phoebe gave that to you?" Max couldn't stop the slight feeling of hurt that hit him in the chest. His sister had never encouraged his romantic exploits and she certainly never encouraged his sexual ones. "Hold on, I need to see if she's still here." He brushed past Cherry and into the halls. He caught sight of her emerald green dress outside the front of the school. She was standing by the flagpole. He pushed through the glass doors and across the grass. The sounds of music and laughter reached to them from the gym. "Phoebe!" She turned and looked at him in surprise.

"Max."

"Why are you leaving?" He reached her and noticed that she did in fact look ill.

"I don't feel well." She swallowed thickly. "But it's ok. I just need to lie down. And now you and Cherry can go-" but she cut herself off by bringing a hand to her mouth and turning away.

"Pheebs." He tried to turn her back to face him.

"Max." She sobbed. He stopped. Her big brown eyes were full of tears and she began to take shuttering breaths, trying to calm herself. "I'm ok." She whimpered. "Just go."

"Why did you have a condom with you?" Max's voice grew hard, unable to keep the question at bay.

"What?" she was startled out of sadness.

"You gave Cherry a condom."

"It's senior prom." She shrugged. His eyes darkened.

"Tell me you weren't going to sleep with Link," he scoffed.

"Why do you care? You were going to sleep with Cherry! You've already slept with every other girl in our grade!" She exploded. He froze. "I deserve to find someone too, Max! I don't deserve to be the one that suffers."

"Of course not, but-"

"I deserve to feel good. And find someone that makes me happy."

"Pheebs, I just didn't know you felt that way about…Link." His voice caught and he frowned. He hadn't known she felt that way about anyone. He didn't want her to.

"I don't. But if I want to sleep with someone I can. You always do. And you don't care how it makes me feel." The words were out before she could stop them. She watched him latch onto them and ponder them.

"What do you mean how it makes you feel?" He watched her chest heaving with emotion. "Why do you even care?"

"Why do you care if I sleep with Link?" she retorted. He froze. They were at a crossroads. The boundaries that had always been there were slowly fading away. They were about to cross into unknown territory.

"I…don't." he stopped himself. It was prom night. This was not how prom night went. Prom night is for light fun and some skin on skin. Prom is not for admitting to your sister that you're in love with her. He watched anger flicker through her eyes.

"Fuck you, Max. You've never been anything but a coward. And for once, just once, I gave you the perfect chance to really be brave. And you shrink from it like I'm the plague."

"Phoebe-"

"Tonight, Max, any of those girls in there are too good for you." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and started off on the ten minute walk home. Her heels made light clicking sounds on the pavement as he watched her go. She had been right. He had been scared. He still was.

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"Phoebe." She was sitting on his bed when he switched on the lair light. Her makeup was off and she was in her pajama shorts and tank top. She looked tired. "What are you still doing up?"

"Wanted to make sure you got home ok." The words were sweet but her tone was wary. He set his jacket down on a chair and walked closer. "And now that you are, I'm going to bed." She stood up to leave, but he put a hand out to stop her. She sat back down and he sat down next to her.

"Here." He reached into his pocket and handed her the condom. "This was rightfully yours, wasn't it?" he smirked slightly at the shock on her face.

"You didn't use it? Max you idiot!" she slapped his shoulder hard. He winced.

"No, because we didn't have sex." He stopped her rant. She froze. "In fact, not that it's any of your business, sweet sister, but I haven't made a habit of sleeping with girls at all."

"You're a virgin." She read it in his face. He looked down. "But, Max, I thought-"

"That because I fool around with girls that means I don't count anything as meaningful? Phoebe, there's only one girl that I've ever seen as meaningful and I couldn't tell her that."

"But I watched." Phoebe's voice was pleading and insistent. "You flirt and..and…"

"And did everything possible to distract me from the fact that none of it would measure up until it was you." He finally breathed. He watched her eyes widen slightly. "Being brave is hard." He added quietly. He had barely spoken the words when her lips were on his and his hand slipped up to cup her jaw. They pulled apart to breathe, resting their foreheads together, amber eyes clashing with chestnut ones. Little smiles danced on their lips.

"Max." she gasped breathlessly. "We probably shouldn't-"

"Sh." He held a finger to her lips. He looked at the clock. "An hour left of prom night."

"I still have…" her eyes trailed to the condom next to her on the bed.

"Do you want…." His voice sounded gently. Hopeful. She smiled.

"I always have been into clichés."


End file.
